Cutting machine for continuously conveying and cutting material into preselected uniform lengths



J. H. BEEBE FOR GONTINUOUSLY CONVEYING AND 3,217,577 CUTTING THS 5Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 16, 1965 CUTTING MATERI Original Filed July 23. 1958llVl/ENTOR 542mm 1% (fig wvafiw ATTORNEY J. H. BEEBE Nov. 16, 1965CUTTING MACHINE FOR CONTINUOUSLY CONVEYING AND CUTTING MATERIAL INTOPRESELECTED UNIFORM LENGTHS Original Filed July 23. 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet2 nvvewron jamea fliggadm 8) W 5? M ATTORNEY NOV. 16, 1965 J, BEEBE3,217,577

CUTTING MACHINE FOR CONTINUOUSLY CONVEYING AND CUTTING MATERIAL INTOPRESELECTED UNIFORM LENGTHS Original Filed July 25. 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet5 ELIE 4- .Hlwv E D QQI N0 flzmea 3% Nov. 16, 1965 J. H. BEEBE CUTTINGMACHINE FOR CONTINUOUSLY CONVEYING AND CUTTING MATERIAL INTO PRESELECTEDUNIFORM LENGTH-S 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed July 25. 1958 v 6ftjfmafia 2M ATTORNEY J. H. BEEBE 3,217,577 CUTTING MACHINE FORCONTINUOUSLY CONVEYING AND CUTTING Nov. 16, I965 MATERIAL INTOPRESELECTED UNIFORM LENGTHS 5 sheets-sheet 5 Original Filed July 25.1958 Unite States Patent CUTTING MAEHlh-JE FOR CUNTENUUUSLY CUN- VEYKNGAND QUTTENG MATEREAL lNTU FRE- SELETED UNKFQRM LENGTHS .Iames H. Beebe,Eayiield, Wis, assignor to Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, 11L, acorporation of Illinois Continuation of application Ser. No. 759,374,July 23, 1958. This application Mar. 14.. 1963. Ser. No. 265,288

2 Claims. (Cl. 83-290) This invention relates to a cutting machine andmore particularly to a cutting machine which is adapted to continuouslycut plastic tubing or the like into any desired predetermined lengths.

This application is a continuation of my copending US. patentapplication Serial No. 750,374, filed July 23, 1958, now abandoned.

Many types of continuous cutting machines have been devised to cutvarious kinds of materials. However, difliculties have arisen withcontinuous cutting machines be cause of bunching of the material and theconsequent jamming of the machines with resulting loss of work hours andmaterial. Also, when using the previously available continuous cuttingmachines much material has been wasted because the material was notalways cut into the required uniform lengths.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a cuttingmachine which will continuously convey and cut material into preselecteduniform lengths.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cutting machine whichwill not become jammed with the material it is cutting.

A further object of this invention is to provide a cutting machine whichwill cut uniform lengths of material from a source of supply without thecutting wheel being in constant motion.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a cutting machinewhich will constantly cut predetermined uniform lengths of material andat any desired rate.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a cuttingmachine which will cut material of varying diameters and thicknesses.

Other objects of this invention will be obvious to those skilled in theart from the detailed description and claims to follow.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front side elevation View of the cutting machine.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the cutting machine of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a back side elevation view of the cutting machine of FIGURE1 showing the drive arrangement of the machine.

FIGURE 3a is a sectional view taken along the line I'm-3a of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 4 is an end view of the cutting machine of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a diagrammatic view of the electrical circuit employed inthe operation of the cutting machine.

The cutting machine of the present invention is comprised of a generallyinverted L-shaped frame 1 formed of a lower front side section 23, avertically movable spaced upper front side section 22, a lower back sidesection 27, and a vertically movable spaced upper back side section 24separated laterally from the front sections 22 and 23 by upper spacerbars 45, 46, and a plurality of lower spacer bars 129. The lower frontand back side sections 23 and 27, respectively, are secured to thesupporting frame members 30, The upper frame sections 22, 24 whichsupport the vertically movable portion of the head are movably securedto the lower frame sections 23, 27, by means of vertical spacer means 5,5 and the head guides 65, 66, 65 and tit" which are mounted at oppositeends of the sections 22, 24, respectively.

A guide means 18 is fastened to the upper front frame section 22. Theguide means 18 is comprised of an angle iron 18a having a metal block18!) welded to the underside thereof with a plurality of horizontallydisposed tapered holes or guide passages 18c formed therein forreceiving a length of tubing or the like in each of the said passages180.

The inner ends of the guide passages 18c terminate adjacent thevertically spaced upper and lower feed rolls or wheels 10, 11,respectively, mounted on shafts 25a, 810, respectively, which arerotatably supported by the said frame side sections in a plurality ofbearing assemblies 26a. Spaced laterally with respect to the feed rolls10, 11 and lying in the same horizontal path as the said feed rolls isthe tubing cutting roll 12 mounted on shaft 25!; and having a rotarycutter 13 adjustably secured in cutting roll 12 by setscrews or the liketo permit adjusting to compensate for different spacing of the head. Acutting block wheel 14 is mounted opposite roll 12 on shaft 81b. Shafts25b and 81b are rotatably supported by the said frame side sections in aplurality of bearing assemblies 26b. Vertically spaced upper and lowerguide rolls 15, 16, respectively, are disposed adjacent to and in thesame horizontal plane as the cutting roll 12 and cutting block wheel 14,respectively, and are mounted on shafts 25c and 810, respectively,rotatably supported by the frame side sections in a plurality of bearingassemblies 26c. Each of the said rolls has the same diameter and ispreferably made of metal. The cutting block wheel 14 has the same outerdiameter as the said rolls and is provided with a substantially rigid,non-metallic surface 17, such as nylon.

To facilitate continuous smooth passage of the tubing or the likebetween the rolls, upper guides 19a, 19b, 190, respectively, are securedto the upper front side section 22 adjacent to the feed roll 10, thecutting roll 12, and the guide roll 15, respectively. Similarly, thelower guides 29a, 2%, Ziic, respectively, are secured to the lower frontside section 23 and are positioned adjacent to the lower feed roll 11,cutting block wheel 14, and guide roll 16, respectively. The oppositelydisposed upper and lower guides are of a general triangularconfiguration with concave lateral surfaces which conform to thecurvature of the said rolls and, if desired, may have longitudinalgrooves on the flat surface thereof. A transparent plastic protectiveshield 21 is attached to the tubing guide 13 and the upper and lowerguides 19a, 19b, 19c and 29a, 20b, 200, respectively.

The novel cutting machine is adapted to accommodate various diameters oftubing or the like by adjusting the vertical spacer means 5, 5',respectively, which consist of two adjusting bolts 87 and 88,respectively, which have the opposite ends thereof threadably engaged inspacing bars 47, 48, and 47a and 480, respectively, which are secured tothe said front and back frame sections. Adjusting bolts 87 and 88 aredisposed approximately equidistant from the respective frame sectionsand each are threaded with a left-hand thread at one end and a righthandthread at the other end and are accommodated with like threading in thesaid spacing bars.

On each of the drive shafts 25a, 250, 81a, 81b, and Site, respectively,at the end opposite to that having tubing contacting roll is secured adrive gear 63, 64, 82, 84, and 86, respectively. Shaft 25a to which theupper feed roll 11) is secured has positioned intermediate the endsthereof a di ive sprocket 62 (see FIGURE 2). Drive shaft 81a on whichthe lower feed roll 11 is mounted also has secured thereto a drivesprocket 86 directly below sprocket 3 62. Both said drive sprockets 62and 80 are engaged by an endless chain '76, as shown in FIGURE 3.

Drive gear 63 which is secured to the end of shaft a, engages the idlinggear 77 which is rotatably mounted on the upper frame section 24. Idlinggear 77 in turn engages drive gear 78 (see FIGURE 4) which is rotatablymounted on shaft 25b. Gear '78 in turn engages idling gear '79 which isrotatably mounted on the upper frame section 24. Gear 79 engages gear 64which is secured on shaft 250 and thereby rotates upper guide roll 15.

The gear train which drives the lower rolls and cutting wheel iscomprised of a drive sprocket 80 which is secured to shaft 81a and whichhas gear 82 mounted on the end thereof. Gear 82 engages idling gear 83which is rotatably mounted in the lower frame section 27. Idling gear 83in turn engages gear 84 which is secured to the end of shaft 81b and onwhich is disposed cutting block wheel 14. Gear 84 engages idling gear 85which is rotatably mounted in lower frame section 27 and in turn engagesdrive gear 86 which is secured to the end of shaft 810 and therebyrotates lower guide roll 16 which is disposed on the opposite end of theshaft 810.

Disposed near the lateral edge of lower frame section 27 and mediallythereof is a chain guide and tension sprocket 89 which is rotatablymounted on the lower frame section 27. Sprocket 90 (see FIGURE 3a) isdisposed directly below sprocket 89 and is rotatably mounted on shaft 42approximately equidistant between lower frame sections 23 and 27. Gear91 is mounted on the end of shaft 42, outside of the lower frame section27, separated therefrom by a spacer bar 113, and is held in position onshaft 42 by threaded knob 115. Gear 91 meshes with gear 92 which ismounted on shaft 97. Disposed immediately behind gear 92, and secured tothe shaft 97 is gear 95 which engages timing gear 96 which is secured tothe outer end of shaft 43 by a threaded knob 126. The shaft 97, on whichgears 92 and 95 are removably secured by means of threaded knob 119 hasan eccentric cam assembly 117 integrally formed therewith to facilitateproper meshing of gear 95 with gear 96 when a different sized gear isplaced on shaft 43 for the purpose of changing the timing of themachine. Eccentric cam assembly 117 is accommodated in adjusting plate93 and is adjustably secured to said plate 93 by means of set screw 118.

Disposed immediately inwardly of the timing gear 96 on shaft 43, outsideof lower frame section 27, is a timing wheel 98 which is comprised of acircular member having a pair of cam lobes 99, 99', mounted thereon indiametrically opposed position so that switch 100 (FIGURE 3) is trippedtwice for every revolution of the timing wheel 98. The switch 100 iscomprised in general of a spring tensioned lever arm 101 which has asmall wheel 102 rotat ably mounted at its upper end and is disposed at apredetermined distance from timing wheel 98 such that it is tripped whencam lobes 99, 99 each makes a contact with wheel 102. If desired, one ofthe cam lobes 99 or 99' can be omitted. The adjusting plate 93 having aslot 125 therein is pivotally mounted on shaft 43 between timing wheel98 and the lower frame section 27. The adjusting plate 93 is heldsecurely in any desired positions by means of threaded stud 106 whichprojects through plate 93 and onto which adjusting knob 107 is screwedto frictionally engage adjusting plate 93.

The source of power of moving the feed rolls 10, 11 and the guide rolls15, 16 is preferably positioned below the frame 1 and in generalcomprises a drive motor 108 which transmits power to a gear box 109which drives sprocket 110 which in turn engages with and drives theendless drive chain 76.

The intermittent drive mechanism for the cutting roll 12 is mounted onhousing plate 4-4 which is disposed transversely in the upper edges offrame sectioins 22, 24. An electrically actuated electric clutchassembly 49 which intermittently operatively engages shaft 25b issecured to housing plate 44. Disposed immediately inwardly of the clutch49 assembly is a continuously rotating gear 78 driven by gear 63 andwith which clutch 49 engages when electrically activated. Shaft 25b isalso intermittently engaged by an electrically actuated electric brake51 which is secured to a downwardly extending plate 54 jointed tohousing plate 44. The metal plate 54 also has secured thereto a cambearing assembly 56 in which the shaft 25b is journaled and to which issecured the cutting wheel timing and brake cam 57. Since both the rotarycutter 13 and the cam 57 are mounted on the same shaft 25b, they bothrotate in synchronism with each other. The cam 57 has a segment of itssurface removed to provide a flat cam surface 105. A switch bracket 59supporting switch 61 is mounted on the lateral edge plate 54. A springtensioned lever arm 103 extending outwardly from switch 61, preferablyhaving a small wheel 104 rotatably mounted at its lower end, ridesagainst the cam 57 and intermittently activates switch 61.

The electrical circuit for the tube cutting machine is illustrateddiagrammatically in FIGURE 5 in which gear earn 93 operates switch 100,brake cam 57 operates switch at and switch 132 is a manually operatedcontrol switch.-

Operation A source of power, represented by drive motor 108 locatedpreferably near the bottom of the cutting machine drives chain 76 in acounterclockwise direction, as indi cated by the arrows in FIGURE 3. Thechain '76 first drives lower feed roll sprocket which drives the lowergear train comprising gears 82, 83, 84, and 86 and which in turn causeslower feed roll 11, lower cutting block wheel 14, and the lower guideroll 16 to rotate continuously. Chain 76 next engages upper feed rollsprock et 62 which drives an upper gear train comprising gears 63, '77,78, 79 and 64 and which in turn causes upper feed roll 10, and upperguide roll 15 to rotate continu ously.

With the said feed and guide rolls thus rotating con' tinuously, one ormore lengths of plastic tubing 6 or the like is inserted into guidemeans 18 until the tubing is engaged by the feed rolls 10, 11 which gripthe tubing therebetween and convey the tubing past the cutting roll 12and cutting block wheel 14- to the guide rolls 1%,- 16 which engage thetubing and convey the tubing out of the machine.

The cutting roll 12 is normally held by brake 51 in 5 non-rotatingcondition with the flattened side thereof in a downwardly positionpermitting the tubing to pass freely between the cutting wheel 12 andthe cutting block wheel 14. When a suflicient length of tubing haspassed and it is desired to cut the tubing, the cutting wheel 12 isactuated by the timing mechanism which is driven by sprocket 90. Thesprocket is driven by chain 76 and moves gear 91 which meshes with gear92, driving gear which meshes with gear 96 and drives timing wheel 98.As the chain 76 continuously moves through its cycle, timing wheel 98 isrotated at a rate which is determined by the gear ratios of gears 91,92, 95 and 96. As timing cam 98 rotates its two oppositely disposedlobes 99, 99' trip switch by means of switch arm 103. When switch istripped, it actuates the electrically actuated clutch 49 andsimultaneously deactuates or de-energizes brake 51 (as shown in FIGURE5), which causes the cutting wheel 12 to rotate and also causes cuttingwheel cam 57 to rotate, and which in turn moves switch 61 to the clutchside of the circuit and to hold it there until the shaft makes acomplete revolution whereupon switch 61 falls back to the brake side ofthe circuit. Meanwhile, timing cam or wheel 98 has rotated so that it isno longer actuating the switch 100 and as a result, has fallen back alsoto the brake side. The length of tubing to be cut is thus predeterminedby the number of rotations in a given time of the timing wheel 93 whichin turn is determined by the gear ratios of the said timing gears.

Reference to FIGURE 5 of the illustrative drawings indicates a controlcircuit generally indicated at C and the cam 98 and 57. The controlcircuit C includes a clutch circuit in parallel with a brake circuit.The clutch circuit is alternately established over a first path definedby an electrical lead L1, the electrically actuated clutch 49, theswitch 100, the switch 61, the manual switch 132 and an electrical leadL2 assuming that the switches 100 and 61 are in the poistion shown bybroken lines in FIGURE 5, and over a second path defined by the lead L1,the electrically actuated clutch 49, the switch 61, the manual switch132 and the lead L2 assuming that the switch 106 is in the positionshown by the solid line and switch 61 is in the position shown by thebroken line in FIGURE 5..

The brake circuit is established over the lead L1, the electricallyactuated brake 51, the switch 100, the switch 61, the manual switch 132and the lead L2. The leads L1 and L2 lead to a suitable source ofelectrical energy. It is, therefore, readily apparent that when the cam98 trips the switch 100, the clutch circuit is established over thefirst path and the actuation of the clutch 49 is thereby commenced. Theengagement of the clutch 49 causes the rotary cutter 13 and the cam 57to rotate. Rotation of the cam 57 causes the switch 61 to establish theclutch circuit over the second path thereby holding or continuing theactuation of the clutch 49. When the cam 57 has rotated so that theswitch 61 is tripped by the flat cam surface 105 at the profile of thecam 57, the switch 61 returns to the brake circuit to complete thereestablishment of the brake circuit which was partly reestablished whenthe switch 1490 returned to brake circuit in response to the cam 98.Since the cam 57 has a predetermined profile, it dictates thepredetermined movement of the rotary cutter 13.

In order to change the length of plastic tubing to be cut, all that needbe done is to loosen knob 1617 thereby releasing adjustment plate 93,remove knob 119 so that gear 92 can be removed and replace gear 92 witha gear of suitable size and number of teeth and finally replace knob119. The adjustment plate 93 with the new gear 92 secured in placethereon is then positioned so that the gear 92 meshes with gear 91 andknob 107 is tightened.

If it is desired to cut lengths of plastic tubing or the like intolengths less than the circumference of the cutting roll 12, it should beunderstood that the cutting roll can be provided with a plurality ofcutting blades. Thus, when the manual switch 132 is moved to the clutchside and the clutch engages with the drive means to continuously rotatethe cutting roll, short lengths of tubing or the like are cutcontinuously with the length thereof depending upon the spacing betweenthe cutting blades mounted on the cutting roll.

It should also be understood that instead of using an electrical brakeand electrical clutch means as in the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, it is possible to use a mechanical brake and amechanical clutch means associated with a solenoid and switch or with adirect mechanical linkage instead of the solenoid and switch to eifectthe desired intermittent rotation of the cutting roll. Also, it shouldbe understood that instead of using the preferred series ofinterchangeable timing gears to change the relative speed of rotation ofthe timing cam with respect to the feed and guide rolls, it is possibleto use a standard variable pitch sheave to effect changes in the lengthof tubing being cut by the machine.

While the foregoing description has referred specifically to plastictubing as material suitable for being cut into uniform lengths by theherein disclosed cutting machine, it should be understood that othertubing, such as rubber tubing, and tape, cord, rope, wire and the likematerial which is normally wound on reels or spools or coiled can alsobe readily cut into uniform lengths by the present cutting machine.Also, simply by increasing the width of the several rolls, andintroducing a web of material directly into the feed rolls, it ispossible to cut a Web of sheet material, such as paper, plastic, rub- 6her, metal foil or the like into uniform sections with the machine ofthe present invention.

Others can practice the invention in any of the numerous ways which aresuggested to one skilled in the art by this disclosure. All suchpractice of the invention is considered to be a part hereof and fallswithin the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for cutting an elongated piece of material into aplurality of lengths: means for feeding a piece of elongated materialalong a path, a rotary cutter rotatable into said path to cut theelongated piece of material, a first cam, a second cam mounted forrotation in synchronism with said rotary cutter, means for driving saidfeeding means, said first cam, said rotary cutter and said second cam intimed relation with respect to each other, a clutch actuatable foralternately engaging and disengaging both said rotary cutter and saidsecond cam from said driving means, a brake actuatable for alternatelyinterrupting and enabling the rotation of both said rotary cutter andsaid second cam, means responsive to said first cam for deactuating saidbrake and for commencing the actuation of said clutch to commencerotation of said rotary cutter and said second cam, said second camhaving a predetermined profile for dictating the predetermined rotationof itself and said rotary cutter, and means responsive to said secondcam for continuing the actuation of said clutch to effect rotation ofsaid rotary cutter and said second cam and for deactuating said clutchand substantially simultaneously reactuating said brake at the end ofthe predetermined rotation.

2. In a machine for cutting an elongated piece of material into aplurality of lengths: means for feeding a piece of elongated materialalong a path, a rotary cutter rotatable into said path to cut theelongated piece of material, a first cam, a second cam mounted forrotation in synchronism with said rotary cutter, means for driving saidfeeding means, said first cam, said rotary cutter and said second cam intimed relation with respect to each other, an electrically actuatedclutch actuatable for alternately engaging and disengaging both saidrotary cutter and said second cam from said driving means, anelectrically actuated brake actuatable for alternately interrupting andenabling the rotation of both said rotary cutter and said second cam; acontrol circuit for alternately operating said clutch and said brake,said control circuit including a clutch circuit and a brake circuit inparallel with each other, two electrical leads leading from a source ofelectrical energy and connected to said clutch and brake circuits, afirst switch common to both said clutch and brake circuits and a secondswitch common to both said clutch and brake circuits, said clutchcircuit being alternately established over a first path defined by oneof said leads, said electrically actuated clutch, said first switch,said second switch and said other lead and over a second path defined bysaid one lead, said electrically actuated clutch, said second switch andsaid other lead, said brake circuit being established over said onelead, said electrically actuated brake, said first switch, said secondswitch and said other lead, said first switch being responsive to saidfirst cam to disestablish said brake circuit and to establish saidclutch circuit over said first path for commencing the rotation of saidrotary cutter and said second cam, said second switch being responsiveto said second cam for continuing the rotation of both of said rotarycutter and said second cam by establishing said clutch circuit over saidsecond path, said first switch returning to said brake circuit shortlyafter the actuation of said clutch in response to said first cam topartly reestablish said brake circuit, said second switch returning tosaid brake circuit in response to a predetermined rotation of saidsecond cam to complete the reestablishment of said brake circuit.

(References on following page) 7 :5 References Cited by the Examiner2,518,011 8/ 1950 Hoppc 83322 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,621,740 12/1952Shanley 83-285 a 2- X 7/1913 Raffel 83 335 X 2,697,470 12/1954 SampaLcos 19 144 413 3 E a ;g 5 WILLIAM W. DYER, ]R., Primary Examiner.

n erson McLaughlin R. Examiner.

1. IN A MACHINE FOR CUTTING AN ELONGATED PIECE OF MATERIAL INTO APLURALITY OF LENGHTS: MEANS FOR FEEDING A PIECE OF ELONGATED MATERIALALONG A PATH, A ROTARY CUTTER ROTATABLY INTO SAID PATH TO CUT THEELONGATED PIECE OF MATERIAL, A FIRST CAM, A SECOND CAM MOUNTED FORROTATION IN SYNCHRONISM WITH SAID ROTARY CUTTER, MEANS FOR DRIVING SAIDFEEDING MEANS, SAID FIRST CAM, SAID ROTARY CUTTER AND SAID SECOND CAM INTIMED RELATION WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER, A CLUTCH ACTUABLE FORALTERNATELY ENGAGING AND DISENGAGING BOTH SAID ROTARY CUTTER AND SAIDSECOND CAM FROM SAID DRIVING MEANS, A BRAKE ACTUATABLE FOR ALTERNATELYINTERRUPTING AND ENABLING THE ROTATION OF BOTH SAID ROTARY CUTTER ANDSAID SECOND CAM, MEANS RESPONSIVE TO SAID FIRST CAM FOR DEACTUATING SAIDBRACKET AND FOR COM-